BILL ANALYSIS
By: McClendon
Culture, Recreation, & Tourism
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE
The women's suffrage movement lasted at least 70 years, from the first formal women's convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, to the passage of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution. Changing social conditions for women during the early 1800's, combined with the idea of equality, led to the birth of the women's suffrage movement. For example, women started to receive more education and to take part in reform movements, which involved them in politics.
The drive for women's suffrage gained strength after the passage of the 15th Amendment to the Constitution, which gave the vote to black men but not to any women. Lucretia Mott, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony, among others, dedicated much of their lives and worked tirelessly to gain the right to vote for women.
House Bill 67 designates August 26 as Women's Independence Day, not to make it a holiday, but to increase awareness among young people that women struggled to be recognized and that gaining the right to vote was a major accomplishment.
RULEMAKING AUTHORITY
The bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution.
ANALYSIS
House Bill 67 designates August 26 as Women's Independence Day to commemorate the ratification in 1920 of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guaranteed women the right to vote. The bill provides that Women's Independence Day shall be regularly observed by appropriate programs in the public schools and other places to inspire a greater appreciation of the importance of women's suffrage.
EFFECTIVE DATE
On passage or, if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2005.